Benton

Formed August 27, 1849 (1^st county)

Benton County (41,381), Foley (2,705), Sauk Rapids (13,862)                

The Modern 1998 courthouse is augmented by an Administration Center built in 1902 and renovated and enlarged in 1972.  The courthouse sits on Minnesota State Highway 23 at 6^th Avenue.  Buetow and Associates are the tan brick and stone building architects.  Older courthouses date from 1856, 1866, and 1902.  Sauk Rapids (1850 & 1859), Watab (1856), and Foley (1901) have all served as the county seat.  The county was created on August 27, 1849 as the original county.  The county is named for Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton.  The county seat is named for settler John Foley. 

Benton County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer, an auditor, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-five District Court Judges serve Benton, Becker, Clay, Douglas, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Otter Tail, Stearns, Todd, and Wadena counties (judicial.) The county is situated in northeast Minnesota.  Benton County is in central Minnesota.  Minneapolis, Minnesota is southeast of the county.  The Mississippi River is its western border.  The county center is 7.2 miles Northwest of Foley nearer Gilman.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Morrison, Mille Lacs, Sherburne, and Stearns counties. 

The area of the county is 408.3 square miles.  It is 83 out of 87 in the state.  It ranks 24 out of 87 in population in the state.  It has a density of 101.4 persons per square mile making it 14 out of 87 in the state.  Benton County has 67.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 10 goes north to south in the county from Morrison County to Sherburne County.  The county is shaped like a plow blade on its head.  Foley is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Sauk Rapids is in the southwest corner of the county.  Foley is the county seat and Sauk Rapids is the largest city.  Foley is 6.5% of the county population while Sauk Rapids is 33.5% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced SOK RA-PIDS.  This county is in the Saint Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Sartell